Jet awoke to the irresistible smell of eggs and bacon. Given there hadn’t been much in her fridge yesterday, that meant someone had woken earlier and made a trip to the shop already.
The summer morning was warm. If she’d been alone in the apartment with Dan, she would have wandered out in her pyjamas. Conscious of Marty, Jet put on a T-shirt and a pair of tailored shorts. She didn’t spend long looking at her reflection in the mirror while tying back her hair. The bruising on her face had changed colour overnight and now it was a deep purple, not to mention the swollen area below her eye. No amount of face cream was going to make it right, so Jet didn’t bother and headed towards the kitchen.
The image of Dan cooking greeted her and Jet paused in the doorway to appreciate the sight. He had his back to her, focused on the stove, and was wearing shorts and a T-shirt as well. Jet licked her lips, but wasn’t entirely sure if it was from the smell or the sight of him. He’d always worn jeans or trousers when they’d worked together and she couldn’t help but enjoy the view of his athletic, tanned legs.
It reminded her of last night, just before she’d fallen asleep. She’d been so tired she’d barely been able to keep her eyes open—but not tired enough to miss his toned chest. It had made her heart beat race faster when Dan pulled her against him. It was too hot to sleep in a shirt and feeling his bare skin against her back had been the sweetest torture before she’d surrendered to sleep.
‘Hey.’ Dan turned around with several pieces of bacon resting expertly on a spatula, then winced. ‘That’s some artwork you’ve got going on your face this morning.’
Jet touched her cheek. ‘It’s pretty, isn’t it?’
‘Does it hurt?’ Dan put the bacon onto a plate sitting on the island bench.
‘No worse than last night. I can’t believe I slept so well.’
‘You snored.’
‘I did not!’
‘Did too. Don’t worry, I think it was because your face is swollen. You were drooling on your pillow, too.’
‘Oh my God. Tell me you’re joking?’
Jet pulled out a stool and sat opposite him at the bench. Dan watched, his eyes sparkling. The bright sunshine streaming in the kitchen window made them an almost iridescent blue.
‘All I’ll say is, it’s not the vision I had of Juliet Temple.’
‘That’s good because I’m not Juliet Temple anymore.’
‘Obviously. You’re snoring, drooling Jet Appleton.’
Jet narrowed her eyes in response to his cheeky grin. ‘And that’s not the sort of thing a polite house guest points out to the host.’
‘It’s more polite than the things I wanted to do to you while I was half-naked with you in your bed. I thought it was better I get up and keep busy.’
Jet gripped the side of the stool. Oh boy. The attack yesterday had been truly awful and traumatising, but the way her stomach tightened in response to Dan’s words told her she was going to be alright. Maybe. Provided she was able to spend more time with this man when she was back to her normal self, that was. And she didn’t even know where to begin in broaching that subject, so she didn’t.
‘Well, I approve of your choice of distraction. This smells wonderful. Where’s Marty?’
‘Gone for a walk. It’s not everyday you wake up in a harbourside suburb metres from the water. You woke up at the perfect time, by the way,’ he told her, and turned to remove some eggs from the pan.
Jet watched on in a pleasant silence while Dan plated up the food. Her expression turned to amusement when he produced a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from the fridge.
‘Are you serious? Where did you even find a shop open this early on a Saturday?’
Dan pulled a face. ‘I had to go to the bottle shop next to the supermarket. I’m still getting over it.’
‘Snob. Does that mean you’re pouring inferior wine?’
‘Not at all. This is a good label. Trust me.’
‘With bacon and eggs though?’
‘Trust me,’ he repeated. He nodded at her plate. ‘Eat first, then sip.’
Jet did as she was told, as she’d learned to do when it came to anything relating to wine and the Rhodes family. She accepted the glass of white wine, swallowed her food and then took a sip.
‘My God, Dan Rhodes. This is divine. Honestly, I’m going to end up drinking with every meal from now on and that’s not a good thing.’
‘Who says? It’s quality, not quantity. If it’s life affirming, it’s not unhealthy.’
Jet smiled at his choice of words. It wasn’t just the wine. There was something life affirming about Dan himself. The way he always aimed to enjoy the moment was so refreshing. Jet couldn’t remember a time in the past few years when she’d really taken time out to enjoy life.
After her split with Andrew, she’d thrown herself into her business. Not that it was a bad thing because she was genuinely passionate about her business. It had been the one thing in her life to keep her going when the media persisted in writing stories about Andrew’s affair and their subsequent separation for months afterwards. Even so, Jet had never really allowed herself the time to slow down, relax and appreciate the simple things since then.
Probably because she knew if she did, she’d question other things, Jet realised. Like the fact that deep down Jet had been lonely for a very long time. That apart from Edie, she didn’t have many genuine, close friends. Jet had just accepted it was the way life was when you were lucky enough to be among Sydney’s elite.
Lucky.
Luck was an interesting concept. For a time Jet had been married to one of Australia’s wealthiest businessman. Even after that ended, she’d maintained her connections and a good part of her wealth. She’d been lucky.
Yet today she felt luckier than she had in a long time.
‘Uh oh. Was the wine a bad idea?’ Dan reached over and took the glass from her. ‘You look a bit spacey. You didn’t take painkillers, did you?’
‘What? Oh, no, nothing like that. I’m fine. Just thinking.’
‘About last night?’
‘Actually, no. I think my brain has compartmentalised it for now. I probably need time to process it, preferably when I can look in the mirror and my face is normal again. No, I was thinking about us.’
Dan started to set the glass on the bench, then thought the better of it and took a long sip.
Jet laughed. ‘I’ve just made light of the elephant in the room, haven’t I?’
‘She’s pretty and pink and if we’re going to discuss her I should have opened a Rosé.’
‘Huh?’
Dan shook his head and put the glass down. ‘Forget it. So, us, hey? Do I prove how manly I am and offer for you to go first? Seeing as you raised the subject?’
‘I’m happy to go first. Dan, I don’t quite understand how or why it’s happened, but I can’t imagine you not being in my life.’
Dan’s blue eyes were earnest as he looked at her. ‘Me too. Keep going.’
Jet laughed then quickly sobered. She needed to get this out. ‘And when I imagine you being in my life, it’s not just as a friend. It’s as something more than a friend.’
‘Me too. Keep going.’
Jet fought a grin, but she was secretly filled with relief by his response. ‘I have no idea how we can make it work, because my business is here and I’m not ready to leave it, and your life is in the Hunter Valley and I’d never ask you to give that up, but—’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he finished. ‘None of it matters. Now it’s my turn to say something, if that’s OK? It’s probably a really inappropriate time to bring up my ex, but it’s relevant. When I decided to end things, it was because I felt my life was in the Hunter Valley and Becca didn’t share that vision. Now I realise since meeting you, it’s because the vision for our relationship wasn’t big enough. If it had been, we’d have overcome those challenges somehow, in some way. But it wasn’t. So I let her go. With you, Jet, you’re my vision. All I see is you. The rest of it—where we live, the jobs we’re passionate about? It doesn’t matter, because we’ll work it out somehow, in some way, with time. All I see is you, Jet, and I don’t want to see anyone else.’
Dan finished and gave jet a sheepish look. ‘Damn it. There I go again. You should have just kept talking and not let me get a word in.’
Jet jumped up from the stool. ‘No! Not at all. It was perfect. You’re perfect.’
She raced around the bench and straight into Dan’s arms.
‘And I’m not perfect.’ Dan’s response was muffled by her hair. ‘I’ll get a big head.’
Jet ignored him. ‘I thought it was just me, thinking these things, feeling like this. I wanted to call you so many times when I got back to Sydney, because it was strange how my home suddenly felt so different. It was like if you weren’t here with me, it didn’t feel like home, which was stupid because you’d never even been here before.’
Dan tightened the embrace. ‘That’s not stupid. It makes complete sense. Because my home didn’t feel like home anymore with you gone, either. We’ll give this our best shot, Jet, I promise.’
Then he eased back and kissed her. Deeply, gently, heartbreakingly sweetly, so Jet didn’t have time to wonder if their best shot would be enough.